Artwork, Inspiration and Daily Reflection

Tag Archives: buggy

Well , I just wanted to share with you the completed cow pastel painting on velour. I think it came out better than I expected and I really love this velour paper for painting animals, and I can’t wait to try more. The next one I might like to try is a piglet or Llama, we’ll see. I hope you like how it turned out.

I also am farther along on my amish girl daydreaming in the back of a buggy. I am really loving this one. I couldn’t decide between a pale yellow dress, or light rose color, and finally decided on the rose. I really like the way this looks so far. What I really like is the way the silhouettes of the amish parents look in the front of the buggy. It’s just enough to let you know they are present, but don’t overshadow the daydreaming, amish girl.

All in all, I’m very happy and can’t wait to complete this painting. Then I can finish Pink and on to Paul Newman! So exciting! Enjoy!

I think I am finally finished with this collage (somewhat) pastel painting of Lancaster County, PA. I probably could add a couple of things here and there, but I just had to post this asap. This partially completed painting has been sitting near my desk forever and it needed to be completed so I could go on to something new! So here it is!

I really love the colors and the cow looking you in the eye is perfect, as this is cow country! I wanted to put maybe a hot-air balloon somewhere near the sunset, but I didn’t want to over-crowd the painting. I like the way it turned out and I may want to try another…but not too soon! Hah! Enjoy!

Ahhhh, now this is more like it. Yes, I love Amish country-Lancaster , PA. I need to go back there and refresh myself. When I go there, I can’t help but feel creative. There is just so much around to fill all the senses:

The buggies and the clip-clop of the horses.

The colorful amish dresses and heart-shaped prayer caps.

Amish Morning

The smell of baked goods is everywhere (mmmm,shoo-fly pie!)

The beautiful countryside where you can actually see the horizon. Oh yes, no telephone wires overhead!

To know me is to know I love anything to do with the Amish. For more than 10 years my family has traveled to Lancaster, Pa and stayed for 6 days at a time… never wanting to leave. It is peaceful and serene. The countryside…breathtaking. I always thought I wanted to move to the country when I got older. But country in RI is to be in the middle of nowhere and placed in the middle of hills and tall pine trees. You cannot see the horizon as you can in PA. There are a couple of main roads with traffic and lights, but you can take a side road, and suddenly you are in the middle of paradise.

Every time we go there, we take a side road and travel up a distance until we are in the middle of never-ending farms. We shut off the car, and you hear nothing! Look up ! There are no wires over your head. It’s so quiet, you can hear the rustling of the grass and towering cornstalks. The many meadow butterflies flit close to the ground, and in the fields,there are cows grazing at every turn. It’s beautiful.

What adds to the already peaceful and serene setting are the Amish people who ride back and forth in their black and grey buggies. They are pulled by sleek, brown horses. The sound of their trotting is like music to me, and I open a window as we pass just to listen. The Amish people are friendly, but quiet. The women wear bright dresses and heart-shaped bonnets and often go barefoot on hot summer days. The men seem to never sweat in their heavy, black pants and straw hats. You have to experience this to completely understand the feeling you have when you are there, and somehow, you will never want to leave.

The experience always makes me feel refreshed, and lets me feel I can go on for the rest of the year, until I go back again. As long as I can go back!

Well, it’s been about 6 years since we have gone last, and now even the kids miss it. We had made close friends with an Amish family there. They have a quilt shop on their property. They have a daughter of Caitlin’s age, and we have eaten at their home, and once, they even came out to dinner with us. Kathryn, the amish girl, invited us one year to her school house to meet everyone. We went (at first hesitated) and realized “we” were the one’s being stared at and whispered about. But they gave us gifts and asked questions and were so friendly. I’m so glad we went. We will never forget the experience.

The amish family was sadly one of the families that were affected by that awful Nickel Mines shooting. Their grandaughter was the 13 year old Marion Fisher, and all I could do was cry. I have tried to contact them since then with cards and such, with no response.

We are going to try to go this summer as a family again, before everyone here goes their separate ways with work and college, etc. We want to remember the feeling again. The calmness and just enjoying nature and each other’s company in a less stressed environment. To be childlike again…and also, just maybe, we will still find that Kathryn will still be there. We can only hope!